THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
much. Please be seated. Thank you
all. Mr. Secretary, I'm honored you invited me
back. (Laughter.) I'm glad to be back to be able
to say thanks on behalf of the American people to the patriots who work
for our Department of State. Thanks for your hard
work. Thanks for your dedication. Thanks for your
love of America.

I'm also here to announce an initiative to
help the Afghan people in a time of crisis and in a time of
need. America will stand strong and will oppose the sponsors
of terror. And America will stand strong and help those
people who are hurt by those regimes.

Mr. Secretary, I am proud of your
leadership. Last time I came, I predicted you would be a
great Secretary of State. You have not let me
down. (Applause.) And neither have the folks who
work at the State Department; not only here in Washington, but in
embassies throughout the world. America is proud of your
service. And America is comforted by the fact that we are
united as we stand to fight terror.

We are engaged in a noble
cause. And that is to say loud and clear to the evildoers
that we reject you, that we will stand firm against terror, and that
this great nation, along with many other nations, will defend freedom.

I want to thank those of you who have
worked extra long hours to help forge this fantastic coalition that
we're building, a coalition of people all around the world who
understand that the evil acts could have happened to them, just like
they happened to us.

People understand that now is the time to
take a stand, to seize this moment, to say that out of this evil act
will come good. And the State Department has helped lead the
way. And I'm proud of your efforts. And I'm proud
of your hard work.

After all, many of you understand the
effects of terror. We had two of our embassies
bombed. Your colleagues were injured and died. I
mean, the State Department has been on the front line of battling
terror and the front line of seeing the effects of
terror. And the American people appreciate the heroism of
the people who serve our country overseas.

This is a unique type of
war. It's a war that is going to require us building a broad
coalition of nations who will contribute, one way or the other, to make
sure that we all win. Some nations may be willing to commit
troops, if that's a decision that we make. Other nations
will help in cutting off funding. Truth of the matter is,
the first shot we fired in this war against evildoers was when the
Secretary and I and the Secretary of Treasury said we're going to find
their money, and we're going to starve them of their money.

We're going to find their bank accounts,
and we will freeze them. We're going to talk to banks all around the
world, and make it clear that if they are on our side, if they join the
folks who are fighting evil, that they've got to do everything they can
to cut off their funds. When we starve them of their funds,
we starve them of their capacity to move against freedom.

I'm proud of the coalitions that we've
built. I'm proud of the fact that the Secretary of State and
the able team here at the State Department is a results-oriented group
of folks.

We've said, not only join the coalition,
we've said here's what we expect you to do. Here is your
assignment. One of the things the American people appreciate
about our administration is that we're results-oriented folks, that we
expect there to be results. We expect if you're on our team,
that we want your performance. And it's making a
difference.

As I announced the other day, we've
collectively rounded up 150 terrorists, people associated with the al
Qaeda organization. Thanks to the Secretary of State's work
and others' work and the work of people around the world, we've
convinced those who joined our coalition to rout out terrorists, to
find them, to incarcerate them, to question them, to find out what's in
their mind and what their future activities may be. And
we're making great progress.

This is a strong
coalition. It's a strong coalition because we've got great
leadership, but it's a strong coalition because we're
right. Because it's a strong coalition. Because
we've made it clear, this is not a war between Christianity or Judaism
and Islam. As a matter of fact, the teachings of Islam make
it clear that peace is important, that compassion is a part of
life. This is a war between good and evil. And we
have made it clear to the world that we will stand strong on the side
of good, and we expect other nations to join us. (Applause.)

This is not a war between our world and
their world. It is a war to save the world. And
people now understand that. And I want to thank you for all
your work of making that simple, yet profound, mission clear.

We have no compassion for terrorists in
this country. We have no compassion. Nor will we
have any compassion for any state that sponsors them. Oh
yes, we're a compassionate nation, but our compassion is limited. We
have great compassion, however, for the millions around the world who
are victims of hate, of victims of oppressive government, including the
people who live in Afghanistan.

Today I'm announcing, along with the
Secretary of State, that America will contribute an additional $320
million in humanitarian assistance for Afghans for more food, more
medicine, to help the innocent people of Afghanistan deal with the
coming winter. This is our way of saying that while we
firmly and strongly oppose the Taliban regime, we are friends of the
Afghan people.

We will work with the UN agencies such as
the World Food Program and work with private volunteer organizations to
make sure this assistance gets to the people. We will make
sure that not only the folks in Afghanistan who need help get help, but
we will help those who have fled to neighboring countries to get help
as well.

There's no question that we're an angry
people about what happened to our country. But in our anger,
we must never forget we're a compassionate people as
well. We will fight evil. But in order to
overcome evil, the great goodness of America must come forth and shine
forth. And one way to do so is to help the poor souls in
Afghanistan. And we're going to do so.

I want to remind the world that helping
people in need is a central part of not only the Christian faith, but
of Judaism and the Hindu faith, and of course a central part of Islamic
traditions. And that's why our coalition is more than just
one to rout terrorism out of the world. It's one to bind
together, to knit those traditions in a way that helps people in need.

You know, I talked to a lot of world
leaders, and Colin has as well. And I told him, through our tears, we
see opportunity, that in our sadness and grief we see an opportunity to
not only defend freedom, but to make the world more peaceful.

I see an opportunity at home when I hear
the stories of Christian and Jewish women alike, helping women of
cover, Arab American women go shop because they're afraid to leave
their home. I see a great opportunity when I see moms and
dads spend more time with their children here at home.

I see out of this sadness and grief an
opportunity for America to reexamine our culture, to reexamine how we
view the need to help people in need, whether it be in our own
neighborhood and around the world.

I see out of this evil will come good, not
only here at home, as youngsters all of a sudden understand the
definition of sacrifice, the sacrifice of those brave souls on Flight
93 who, after the 23rd Psalm said, let's roll to save America.

I see an opportunity as well to bring
peace to the world, the likes of which we've never seen. I
appreciate the Secretary of State's hard work in the Middle
East. It has been diligent. It has been
consistent. It has been true to the principles of America,
that in order for there to be peace, we must reduce the level of
violence.

I see an opportunity to make sure the
subcontinent is more peaceful. No, in our grief and in our sadness, I
see an opportunity to make the world a better place for generations to
come. And we will seize the opportunity. I fully understand
that some will grow weary and some will tire. Not this
administration, and not the people of the State Department.

I know there will be some nations that
will become frustrated over time because we're fighting a different
kind of campaign. But we won't weary. This is a
nation that has determined, made a determination to rise up in a united
way; to not only spread goodwill around the world, but to find
terrorists where they may live and may hide, and those who harbor them,
and bring them to justice. Now is the
time. (Applause.)

Now is the time for this great nation to
lead. And I'm proud of the Secretary of State and the
hardworking people of the State Department for joining us in this
cause. Thank you for letting me come by
again. May God bless you all, and may God bless
America. (Applause.)